Madless March: A wild NCAA tournament makes us miss Arizona even more

Welcome to Collegebasketbaholics Anonymous. We’ve saved a seat for you.

My name is Scott, and I really miss watching the Arizona Wildcats in the NCAA tournament.

I hope you haven’t been boycotting this UA-free tourney. If so you missed one wild weekend of games. Seeing all these great finishes is the good news. The bad news is it just makes me wish all the more that the Wildcats were a part of it.

I miss it. I miss looking ahead to potential matchups. I miss complaining about bad draws. I miss rooting for the top seeds in Arizona’s region to lose. I’m jealous of the beautiful three days this year’s Sweet 16 will enjoy when everybody is talking about their team as they wait for Thursday’s games.

How are you holding up? Were you able to lose yourself in the drama or did you keep having UA flashbacks? Kentucky blasted through the first two rounds like Sean Elliot and the ’88 Cats. Murray State could be in East Tennessee. Does 11-seed Washington remind you at all of last year’s run as a 12-seed?

Here’s an optimist/pessimist litmus test for you: When you see #1 Kansas losing do you think of Arizona beating #1 Kansas in 1997, or do you think of Kansas beating #1 Arizona in 2003?

I’m glad the tournament is back to you-never-know status. After the death of the underdog two years ago (only one team worse than a 3-seed in the Elite Eight, all four #1s in the Final Four) it’s great to see a 9, 10, 11 and 12 still dancing.

We need the Ali Farokhmaneshes of the world. Life is more interesting when unconventional clock-management strategies work like a charm. I tell you what, there’s no way Mr. Farokhmanesh runs the ball on second-and-12 protecting a seven-point lead against Oregon with four minutes left and a potential Rose Bowl bid on the line.

You never know. It took Washington eight tries to win its first game outside Seattle. They’ve now won nine straight away from home.

You never know. When we last saw Purdue the Boilermakers were scoring 11 points – eleven! – in the first half of a Big Ten tournament game. Immediately the nation left them for dead and picked Siena to win in the first round. And picked Texas A&M to win in the second round. Next up is a showdown with Duke in which Purdue has no chance. Right?

You never know. How is it Michigan State got to enjoy the thrill of building a big second-half lead and hitting the buzzer-beater? That’s not one Arizona fans can relate to.

Special congrats to Sean Miller’s former players at Xavier for making their third-straight Sweet 16. It has to be tough for the UA coach after going through a Bittersweet 15 (loss) season, but it’s a reminder to the Wildcat faithful that we got a guy who can build a consistent winner.

The UA news for the next month will be Miller’s chase of a McDonald’s All-American or two to add to this year’s recruiting class. The thing to keep in mind is Xavier’s success shows it’s not the end of the world if the biggest fish get away. Miller’s first goal should be building another Xavier, and then worry about rebuilding ARIZONA.

Sweet 16, Elite Eight, Sweet 16. That’s where the Musketeers have been and it’s not a bad place to be. It sure beats first round, first round, Sweet 16, nothing.

So do your thing, Coach Miller. We’re addicted to college basketball success and we need help. Get us back to the Madness.